Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Former UFC strawweight champion Jessica Andrade wants a new crack at the belt in 2020.
After losing her title in only 42 seconds to Weili Zhang, and then taking the rest of the year off to recover from the loss, former UFC strawweight champion Jessica Andrade feels ready to get back in action in 2020.
In an interview with Ag Fight, ‘Bate Estaca’ expressed her hopes to fight for the title again this year, revealing a desire to show the world that she only lost her belt to Zhang due to a mistake she does not plan on making again.
“What I really want this year is to get another chance to fight for the title. Be it against Weili Zhang or Joanna [Jedrzejczyk]. To just have that chance again and show that everything that happened was a mistake, that I actually could have done more, but her hand landed before mine and I ended up losing my belt. I want to show people I’ll be a champion that will hold her belt. For 2020 to be perfect, I would have to have this title shot, even if it only comes by the end of the year. I hope I can have two, three fights, so I can get a title shot. I’ll be waiting.”
Before the loss to Weili Zhang, in August 2019, Jessica Andrade (20-7) was on a four-fight winning streak. Her victories came over Claudia Gadelha, Tecia Torres, Karolina Kowalkiewicz and, most recently, Rose Namajunas. She beat Namajunas with a power slam knockout at UFC 237 to earn the title.
Now, the 28-year-old is expected to rematch Namajunas at UFC 249, in Brooklyn, New York, on April 18. The card is scheduled to be headlined by a lightweight title fight between champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former interim title holder Tony Ferguson.